


our garden

by kurgaya



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alcohol, Banter, Dissociation, Don't copy to another site, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, M/M, Slice of Life, Suggestive Themes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-13
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-21 16:48:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,795
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30024816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kurgaya/pseuds/kurgaya
Summary: "A punishment? For what? The Lady Hokage is fond of you!""She wants me to take the hat," Kakashi says.Gai inhales a chopstick.[Slice of life. Kakashi returns from a mission plagued with thoughts of his future.]
Relationships: Hatake Kakashi/Maito Gai | Might Guy
Comments: 12
Kudos: 75





	our garden

**Author's Note:**

> Just some feel good hurty-comfy stuff and banter. The good shit.
> 
> Rated M for brief discussion of sex. Just for safety.

It’s barely past dawn when Gai returns from his jog. It's promising to be a hot summer day, and he bee-lines to the kitchen to refill his water bottle. His jumpsuit is all but fused to his skin and so is his hair. It’s due a trim. He shoves his fingers through the back and immediately wishes he hadn’t. Sweat is nothing a quick shower won’t fix, but he cringes and he wipes his hand down his leg, still breathing hard from the run.

It was a good run. Ten times around the village wall. The guards posted at each of the four gates are accustomed with his workouts. It’s been years since they last raised the alarm at the sight of him speeding past. Some of them even wave. Gai’s not sure how long the round-trip took today, but he knows his pace and he could hazard a guess. He vows to work harder tomorrow. He gulps more water and thinks about breakfast. He considers waking Kakashi for it, too, and smiles as he always does when Kakashi comes to mind.

Kakashi sleeps over most nights now. Duties permitting. Sometimes he summons the dogs and fills Gai’s apartment with chaos. Sometimes it’s just the two of them and quiet meals (or not-so-quiet meals), and sometimes there’s cozy sleeping after not-so-cozy hands. Kakashi likes to push his hands through Gai’s hair and kiss him in the dark. Gai likes that too, but he likes all of Kakashi’s ideas.

Kakashi probably won’t like it now, with Gai needing a shower and all. All the more reason to shower quickly, then. Gai pokes his head into the bedroom on the way over. The door to the balcony is open and plants wave at him in silhouettes. A small fan whirs in the corner of the room, fluttering Kakashi’s hair. Gai switched it on when he left. At some point this morning, Kakashi has rolled closer to it, and now he’s sprawled on his stomach like an overheated dog.

Kakashi’s only brown eye peeks open. He says something, his voice distorted by the fan. He’s asleep again before Gai can reply.

Gai leaves him be. He smiles and dives into the bathroom to clean up. Fifteen minutes later he reappears, dressed down in leggings and his shinobi mesh. He’ll change back into his jumpsuit when it’s time to meet his students. His hair drips into a towel around his neck, and he scrubs his face dry with a corner. His feet stick a little too well to his slippers, so he hardly makes a sound as he drifts back into the bedroom.

Kakashi has moved once again, now curled around a pillow with a familiar grip of denial. But he knows he can't pretend the morning away, regardless of how hard he refuses to acknowledge Gai.

Gai hops over. There’s a quiet _go away_ of dissent from the pillow.

“Morning, my love! How are you feeling?”

“Mmph,” says the pillow. It must be weary. Just yesterday, it arrived home from the Land of Tea after a punishing joint-mission with Sunan shinobi. It scarcely made it through the window of Gai’s apartment and into a pair of slippers before flopping into an exhausted heap on the floor. Gai rescued it from that dark and empty corner and bundled it into bed. Now it’s glaring at him with a button-red eye from behind feather-white hair. “What time...?”

“Time for waking up,” Gai says. “It is a bright and glorious day! You’re wasting Springtime! C’mon now, roll out of bed and I shall prepare us some breakfast.” He pats the sorry lump on the futon called Kakashi and earns a grumble. Then, more gently, he pats Kakashi’s pillow-white hair. “How about miso fried rice? Can you stomach that?”

The switch from soldier-pills to genuine food is a difficult one. Especially for Kakashi, who rarely remembers to eat in the downtime between missions. He can’t sustain himself on soldier-pills no matter how hard he tries.

“No.”

Gai expected as much. He’ll make two portions, just in case. “Tea, then?”

“Coffee.”

“Camomile?”

“ _Coffee_.”

“Jasmine, then,” Gai concedes. They play this game often. He’s yet to bring Kakashi anything except his favourite roast, well-versed in this unchangeable stage of their wake-up routine, but Gai is a man who takes pleasure from the simple things in life, and Kakashi’s fond eye-roll is one of them. “Green tea will get your metabolism up and going this early in the -!”

“ _Gai_.”

The glare is genuine now. Gai lowers his arms from their triumphant flex and spreads his palm across the back of Kakashi’s head. His fingers disappear into the down-like crown. Kakashi squeezes his eyes shut and merges with the pillow again. This doesn’t usually happen in their game. Gai brushes the knuckles of his other hand along Kakashi’s shoulder and feels him tense.

The mission must have been difficult.

Breakfast can wait, Gai decides. He continues petting Kakashi’s shoulder, waiting for the tension to ease. The fan whirs back and forth, occasionally clicking. It’s white noise in Gai’s bedroom and he hardly hears it. He listens to Kakashi sigh. It's a tired sigh, but not pained. Gai will take what he can get.

“The kids?”

“Not till noon,” Gai replies, although he can surely postpone their training if need be. His responsibilities as Kakashi's touchstone (and rival, and friend, and partner) are equally as important as his duties to his students. “You have me all morning.”

“Okay,” Kakashi says, and then he doesn’t say anything else until Gai has laid down beside him. A single futon is far too small for both of them, but Gai folded his away before he left on his run. Neither of them comment on the awkward fit. “I’m fine.”

Gai says nothing, trusting him. He kisses the back of Kakashi’s neck. It’s sweaty there, too. Gai doesn’t mind. He throws a leg over Kakashi’s and tries to gauge how far to take this. The line between _grounded_ and _trapped_ is a precarious one for any shinobi, but for Kakashi it’s particularly fine. But Kakashi doesn’t shift away so Gai hugs him close, squeezing just shy of too tight.

“Your hair’s wet,” Kakashi says. “It’s cold.”

Gai kisses him again. Water drips between their hot skins. “I showered.”

Kakashi shivers. “It’s nice.”

The fan continues spinning. Gai’s plants crowd the balcony doorway, watching with their breaths held. The day behind them truly is bright and glorious, and slowly Kakashi releases the pillow and sets it down in the sun.

“I don’t remember getting back,” he admits. He pats the pillow like one of his dogs. Hopefully, he won't reach the point of needing them.

“You arrived last night through the window. You were half-asleep.”

Half-asleep and dissociating, no doubt. Gai should have noticed. Kakashi often crashes after missions, the prolonged stress of responsibility and battle catching up to him. He used to hide in his own apartment until he felt more like a person, but often now, he comes to Gai. His moods are hard to predict, and his awareness even more so, but Gai’s glad that Kakashi’s far-away mind has deemed him a safe place to shelter. He hates the thought of Kakashi battling reality in the dark and alone.

It’s hard to imagine what Kakashi’s experiencing right now. All shinobi react to missions differently. To Gai, Kakashi is real and present and awake, but his consciousness could be adrift, unfeeling, in a plane without words, identity, and time. Gai can only liken it to the haze of pain after his Sixth Gate, but he doesn’t know if that’s right. Kakashi has never tried to put it into words and Gai has never asked. Some things are better left unsaid. Every shinobi knows that.

“Did I debrief?” Kakashi asks. He starts petting Gai’s hand. He has slim, kunai-knicked fingers, and his skin is covered in lightning lines. Remnants of the chidori. His gloves help to deflect the damage, but he didn’t wear any as a child, and the scars remain. They’re not the only childhood scars he still wears.

Gai thinks back to the previous night. He nuzzles his nose into the top of Kakashi’s hair. “Hmm.” Wrestling a semi-conscious jōnin into sleepwear and bed had been quite a challenge. He can’t recall much conversation at all. “You did not say.”

“Damn.”

It’s a soft curse, distant. Gai hugs him tight. Debriefing should be the last thing on Kakashi’s mind right now; but when he’s struggling to pull thoughts through a haze, plucking any one will do.

“Come and make breakfast with me.”

“Mm,” Kakashi says non-committedly. “God, I want coffee.” He wants routine, normalcy. He’s grasping for moments in reality he understands: Gai’s morning run, the watching balcony, hot porcelain in his hands.

“Then I will brew some. And you can shower! We’ll make it a race.”

The fan clacks as it rotates. It sounds like the competitiveness igniting in Kakashi’s gaze.

“Anything for a point, huh?”

“There’s no guarantee I’ll win!” Gai lies. The coffee pot will take a while, certainly, but not as long as Kakashi slogging back to awareness under the ice-cold spray. It's an easy win. He props himself up over Kakashi’s chest. His towel-damp hair drapes like dark leaves around his face. He reaches to push it out of his eyes, but Kakashi beats him to it.

“This is getting long. You could tie it back soon.”

Gai pouts. “It will be trimmed long before then, believe me.”

“Maa, sensei’s hair was quite long.”

Gai will admit the change in topic throws him. The Fourth Hokage is a man they rarely discuss, owing to the fact that Kakashi tends to shut down any and all conversation about him. Like the chidori, Minato’s death is a childhood scar that will likely never fade. It has wounded Kakashi’s heart so terribly that Gai used to fear he would bleed out from the pain.

When they do speak of him, Naruto is usually involved. Which can't be the case now, as Naruto and the Land of Tea are two entirely unrelated topics. As far as Gai is aware.

“Did Lord Fourth like coffee, too?”

Kakashi smiles. That’s the wrong answer, then. Gai tries to think of something else, but cool fingers brushing around his ear distracts him. His body tingles happily, helplessly, at the caress.

“Maa, did I not tell you? He was from the Land of Tea.”

Ah, of course. Gai nods seriously. “So you’ve been thinking of him.”

“Mm. I guess… it’s hard not to, recently.”

“Because of the Land of Tea?”

Kakashi hums. It’s not a full answer. “He said it would’ve been beautiful, if not for the war.”

“And it will be beautiful again,” Gai assures, feeling like he’s missing something. “We have peace with the Land of Wind! Our friendship with Suna promises to be ever-lasting! There will be no need to fight over foreign land anymore."

“Optimistic.” He says it like a slur.

Gai's dealt with plenty of that in his life. The insult hits him harmlessly and slips down his back like the water from his hair. “How can I not be? There is much in the world to be optimistic for! It will all work out in the end.”

Kakashi usually responds to these declarations with a sigh and a smile, and _if you say so_. And Gai does say so. Their generation and the generations before them have fought too long and hard to fail now, and a future where the world is bleak and warring is a future Gai can't accept. He has seen enough war - they both have. They have lost too much to gain so little.

Kakashi doesn't say _if you say so_ this time. He says, "Do you think so?" and it's almost the same but not quite, and the careful distinction gives Gai pause.

It's true that he can be hyperbolic in all manner of things. He has the optimism of the village tenfold and the enthusiasm to match. He can seem insincere; he's well aware that people think that of him. Kakashi used to be one of those people, back when they were children. There was little for Kakashi to be optimistic about then, Gai's intentions included.

Kakashi has doubts, it's plain to see. But not in Gai, not anymore.

"I do," Gai says. "I think these wars will end, one day, and we will be happy, carefree men. Our students will have students. We will have each other, and your dogs, and we will grow old in my garden. I will have even more plants than I do now! I'm looking forward to it!"

Kakashi's face is carefully blank. He trails his fingers over Gai's wet shoulder. He makes a non-committal sound. His hand, as it closes around Gai's arm, squeezes a little too tight.

"You really think that."

Gai senses there's a wrong answer here. He chooses honesty - he always does. "Whole-heartedly."

An eye-roll breaks the tension in Kakashi's expression. "Like we have room for more plants."

"We have plenty of room!"

"Yeah? Where? In here?"

"Quite so!"

"And where will I sleep?"

"Wherever you like! I've seen you fall asleep on a fence."

Colour bursts onto Kakashi's cheeks. His gaze fixes on Gai with a glare, more alert now, embarrassment overwhelming his sad and distant thoughts.

Gai grins and leans over to kiss his temple. It staves off Kakashi's grumbling long enough for Gai to change the subject. "Come on, love, breakfast is waiting! There's still a whole day ahead of us!"

"Yeah, yeah," Kakashi says. "As long as there's coffee."

There's plenty of it. Gai prepares their meal while Kakashi showers, and brews the coffee as promised. He's still unsure if Kakashi can stomach anything, but he dishes up the rice into two healthy portions and sets them on the table. It's far too large a table for his tiny kitchen, and when his students are visiting, it's quite a squeeze. It's designed to fold down and store away, but he has guests too often for that to be any use. But that's certainly not something to complain about.

It's debatable whether Kakashi looks more like a person or a wet dog when he exits the shower. Hopefully, he feels more like a person, but sometimes it's hard to say. He refuses the meal, much to Gai's dismay, but he accepts a seat at the table with his coffee and a comfortable look, and by the time Gai's finished eating, it could be any normal day.

"You could draft your mission report while you're finishing that, Rival,” Gai says.

It's an optimistic suggestion. Kakashi hasn't handed a report on-time to the Mission Office in almost 10 years. He'll debrief with Lady Tsunade because she'll make his life a living hell if he doesn't, but that's it. Gai can't remember the last time he saw Kakashi writing a report. The mission administrators hate him.

Kakashi slurps his drink louder.

"You cannot rely on your sharingan to remember everything," Gai admonishes. "You should write it down. For the Hokage, at least!”

“Don’t think that’ll matter, soon,” Kakashi says, whatever _that_ means. “It was all politics anyway. Nothing interesting happened. I think the old lady's punishing me for something."

"Nonsense! If she sent you on a diplomatic mission, it's because she trusts you to represent our village! That's an honour. As you said, the Land of Tea has seen much hardship! Diplomacy is necessary for strong, international relations and a swift recovery!"

"It's still a punishment."

"For what? The Lady Hokage is fond of you!"

"She wants me to take the hat."

Gai inhales a chopstick. “ _She does_?” he wheezes, hacking it back out. Tears blur his vision. Kakashi becomes a smudge of white and black across the table. His smug eyebrows blend into his hairline. His green coffee cup becomes a bruise all over his face.

Gai thumps himself on the chest and the chopstick clatters back across the table. They both stare at it. Kakashi’s face re-focuses in Gai’s eyes - and he realises the expression he mistook for smugness is in fact a playful, and perhaps remotely genuinely, concern.

“Thanks for the vote of confidence.”

Gai blinks. That sounds like… "My dear Rival, are you saying… you said _yes_?”

Kakashi shrugs. He stares at a point over Gai's shoulder. “Is that so hard to believe?”

Gai forgoes the chopstick to clasp Kakashi’s hand. He squeezes it gently, recognising that this is serious. Kakashi is speaking to him in confidence and Gai’s glad that he can. They’re Rivals, and partners, and lovers, and they should be pillars of support for each other. Gai wants to support him - but he also doesn’t want to lie. “My Esteemed and Beloved Rival, you can do anything you set your mind to,” he begins, looking Kakashi square in the eye. “But I truly did not predict this from you. This is glorious! The Hokage! What a challenge! You have exceeded my expectations yet again, my love."

"Maa, those must be some low expectations."

"The opposite, in fact! I only meant, you continually find ways to push yourself to new limits and it's admirable! Succeeding the Lady Hokage is no small task and no-one could have asked that of you -"

"Except the Hokage."

" - and yet you've risen to the challenge!"

“Have I?" Kakashi says, but even as he shakes his head he’s laughing. “I don't think this is one of our challenges, you know. It's hare-brained. Don’t look at me like that. I have to go debrief.”

“Of course,” Gai says, unable to help his grin. Hatake Kakashi, _the Sixth Hokage!_ No wonder Kakashi’s thoughts are dwelling on Lord Fourth. To think that he’ll be wearing the same hat as his beloved teacher! Gai watches him stalk off through the apartment, near giddy with pride. “Tell the Lady Tsunade I approve of her choice. I look forward to watching you rise to the challenge!"

“Fuck off,” Kakashi calls, vaninshing from sight.

Gai sits at the kitchen table by himself for a few minutes. Kakashi’s chakra signature eventually fades from the apartment, and Gai suspects it won’t return for the rest of the day. No matter. He collects the wayward chopstick and gathers up the dishes, still smiling. It certainly is promising to be a bright and glorious day.

“We should celebrate,” Gai announces that evening, closing the front door behind him. His students performed admirably today, especially Tenten, whose weapons arsenal is rapidly improving. He had to dodge all manner of blades and explosives today, and he’s proud to find a small slice on his jōnin vest as he shrugs it off. He carries it over to where Kakashi is lounging under the kotatsu.

Kakashi glances at it. “With your students?”

“Well yes!” Gai agrees, thinking that a team meal is a wonderful idea. Any excuse to bring his family together is a brilliant one. “But I also meant for your promotion.”

What a wonderful word that is. Promotion. Kakashi's face sours at the sound of it. He sets down his drink and coffee splashes over the books and papers strewn across the kotatsu. A ledger is open to a baffling page of numbers. Gai's eyebrows spring up. It doesn't look like any mission report he's ever seen.

“It’s not official," Kakashi says, surrounded by official paperwork covered in the Hokage's official stamp. It certainly looks official. Gai probably shouldn't be looking at it.

“Official or not, you're surely working hard!" Gai says. He dabs at the coffee spill with his jacket. "Unless I’m mistaken, and your debrief lasted all afternoon. It must have been quite a mission!"

Kakashi sighs. He looks tired. Gai wonders if he's eaten anything today. “Were you keeping tabs on me?”

“I always do,” Gai says without amble, leaving _after a difficult mission_ unsaid. Most of Kakashi's missions are difficult, but he leaves that unsaid, too. “You know this.”

“I didn’t see one of your turtles.”

“I didn’t send a turtle. I spoke to Pakkun.”

“Traitor,” Kakashi huffs. He picks up his mug and a ring of coffee remains behind, circling complicated words. One of the stamps has faded with years and Gai wonders which Hokage left it there. “It's not a _promotion_ \- and it's classified. And unofficial. And not something I'm telling Naruto. Or your kids. You didn’t, did you?”

“Fear not! I have been tight-lipped about it all day. I know you don’t like commotion.”

“So you sent my _dog_ to spy on me.”

“I only asked Pakkun to watch out for you should you summon him,” Gai explains, because he hadn't wanted it to be _too_ obvious that he was worried. Kakashi doesn't like to be coddled. “Which you did! You only have yourself to blame, my dear Rival.”

"Really," Kakashi says. He finishes his drink and then shoves the empty cup into Gai's stomach. "You putting the kettle on?"

Gai grins. "I hope this means you've forgiven me?"

“Guess so. I should’ve known Pakkun was up to something.”

"Pakkun is wonderful and wise and never _up to_ anything."

"Oh, like you?" Kakashi drawls.

"Never!" Gai cries. "Your pack are the most wondrous companions and to compare myself to them would not do them justice!"

"Don't let them hear you say that. Their egos are big enough as it is."

"There's nothing wrong with self-confidence! They should be proud of their skills! As should you! You are already a role model for your students. You will be a marvelous Hokage! Confidence is attractive, my love."

Kakashi sniffs. "They're dogs."

"And they are very handsome," Gai says, setting down another cup of coffee. He brushes his fingers around Kakashi's ear, along the strings of his mask. "But I meant you."

“Ah,” Kakashi says, shivering gently. “Right.”

There’s a _thanks_ in there somewhere.

“And I mean it when I say we should celebrate,” Gai adds. “This is a cause for celebration, after all! We should dine somewhere; we don’t have to involve our students. Or I may have a few bottles of sake around somewhere, if you’d prefer.”

“Hmm, drinking on the job? I’m surprised.”

“I would never,” Gai says, before realising who's actually on the job right now. “You’re right; you’re working! Celebrating can wait. I wouldn’t want to inflict Lady Hokage’s wrath upon you.”

“Anymore than it already is, you mean,” Kakashi says. He slumps his face into his hand. His mask is tugged down beneath his chin, and it bounces as he sighs. “It really is just a glamorous desk job. Nothing worth getting excited over. Everything’s just going to stay the same.”

“And yet your work is vital! Give me a moment, and I will join you.”

“At my desk job?” Kakashi calls, as Gai slides his sewing box out from under the TV. There is something strange in his voice, disbelieving, and then he says, “Ah.”

The box contains a steadily growing collection of crafts and no small amount of fabric. Gai rummages past the knitting needles and yarn to the pouch of silver sewing needles and finer thread. He carries everything he needs back over to the kotatsu, where Kakashi and the torn jacket are watching dispassionately.

“You could just request a new one,” Kakashi says. He sweeps some of the paperwork aside to make room. Then he shuffles right into Gai's space, so that they're shoulder to shoulder. Their thighs press together. Gai's jumpsuit is skin-tight and feels every edge of the kunai strapped to Kakashi's leg.

Gai squeezes Kakashi's knee, where it's safe to touch. "There's no need for that! This is simple enough to fix. It will only take a minute."

"I better not get too comfy, then," Kakashi laments, getting comfy anyway. He presses his cheek into Gai's shoulder in a rare plight for affection, but then moves away before Gai can think to cuddle him. He smiles like a chuffed cat.

This close, his paperwork is too easy to read, and the tickle of his hair too difficult to ignore. Gai does his best not to look - and not to sneeze.

They work quietly together. They often don’t have nights like this with their mission schedules. One of them usually works late out in the village, training or patrolling, or trapped in the Hokage’s office or Ramen Ichiraku. Their kids are growing up and independent, but Naruto’s love for ramen is everlasting. Gai’s been trying to introduce a balanced diet to the boy for years. At least Kakashi spending more time in Gai’s apartment means his students spend more time here, too, and Gai can inflict healthy eating on them all. He and Kakashi have never verbalised their relationship to the kids - beyond Gai’s declarations of rivalry of course - but they’ve hardly discussed it between themselves. Somewhere along the line, Kakashi’s careful touching became liberal, and he would run his hands over Gai’s shoulders in the most tormenting way. His gaze would linger deliberately, and Gai allowed himself to linger in return. For years, he had resigned himself to mere fantastical hope that Kakashi might reciprocate his feelings.

And then Kakashi took his students to Wave. And returned. And kissed Gai on his balcony in front of all of the plants.

“My kids are fucking crazy and we almost died,” Kakashi had said, pressing Gai into the rows of herbs. “I can’t do this without you.”

The next morning, they started training their students together. Little else in their relationship changed. Kakashi relocated from the kotatsu to a futon in Gai’s bedroom, and Gai’s hands relocated from friendly shoulder slaps to Kakashi’s waistband. And up his shirt. Along his jaw. Down his spine.

“Is that needle so interesting?”

Gai starts, reigning his thoughts back in. He finishes threading the needle, hoping he hadn’t been staring at it for too long. Judging by Kakashi’s quirked eyebrow, it was long enough.

“I - was just thinking!” Gai says, his face hot. Kakashi is warm against him. Gai feels his body heat in more than one place. “I didn’t mean to distract you.”

“Thinking about what?”

“Just - things! Our students!”

Kakashi doesn’t need the sharingan to scrutinise him. “That’s a shame,” he says, shrugging a shoulder. “This paperwork's monotonous."

"Then I'll make dinner!" Gai announces, snatching the excuse. Drinking on the job is one thing, but there is a time and a place for more involved activities, and now is neither! He shoves aside his sewing. "I bet you've only had soldier pills today. Did you eat those leftovers?"

"Is that what you were thinking about?"

"Yes, absolutely!" Gai insists, aware that his face is red. He can feel his skin burning - and not from the sun. It really has turned out to be a bright and glorious day.

Kakashi hums. He doesn't call Gai out on his bullshit but that doesn't mean he's oblivious. Gai would never assume so little of him!

"Let's get takeout,” Kakashi says, squeezing Gai's thigh. "And open that wine."

He summons Pakkun and Bull to deliver their order. Bull accepts the note and head-pat with a wag of his tail. Pakkun rolls his eyes so hard that his entire face seems to ripple. His wrinkles wobble at Kakashi.

"Thought you weren't going to celebrate."

"Well," Kakashi says, which is all he says.

The dogs vanish in puffs of smoke.

"Wine?'" Kakashi prompts.

Gai shakes his head fondly - only ever fondly - and pats Kakashi’s knee. Then he goes to fetch the wine and a pair of glasses, and lays the kotatsu with plates and cutlery. Kakashi helps by shoving his paperwork onto the floor. The stamp and ink pad clatter towards the TV. Gai hopes it’s only Kakashi’s personal stamp and not anything more important.

Kakashi pours the wine. Gai’s a total lightweight and they both know it, so he only needs half a glass. Kakashi’s glass ends up a bit too full in Gai’s opinion, but he’s not going to judge and he’s not going to complain. He can’t remember the last time he saw Kakashi drink. Nights at the bar with Asuma, Kurenai, Genma, and the others happen so infrequently these days, but he remembers them fondly. A tipsy Kakashi is quite a sight. He never joins them for karaoke, which Gai has lamented about for many hours, but perhaps one day!

One day, when he’s the Hokage and has no excuse! He’ll be in charge of his own schedule, planning his own meetings and delegating his missions, busy with the council and administration, working hard with T&I and overseeing the Academy, and the hospital, and…

Gai aborts a mouthful of wine. It sloshes over his lap and onto Kakashi, snuggled up beside him. They haven’t even started their meal yet and already Kakashi is food-comaing. Kakashi’s not even Hokage yet and already he’s busy enough to work through the night. He can certainly do anything he puts his mind to, of that Gai has no doubt! But are there enough hours in the day for his Hokage duties, his students, missions, training, his friends, _and_ challenges with Gai?

“Mhm? You’re not drunk already, are you?” Kakashi asks, nose wrinkling. He tops up Gai's glass.

Gai dabs the spill up with his mended jacket. It already has to go through a wash. “I - no. I was just thinking.”

“Still?”

“About you becoming the Hokage.”

“Ah,” says Kakashi. He casts a strange look at his wine, happy and yet sad at once. He smiles around the rim of his glass. “Changed your mind?”

“Of course not!" Gai's cry is so vehement that he almost flings the kotatsu over. Their plates and chopsticks rattle. The wine-stain in his lap is already dry, and in the late summer evening, it's all Gai can smell. Perhaps he is a little tipsy; his face, red with indignation, is unusually warm. "I stand by what I said. You’ll make a wonderful Hokage and the village will be better with you at its head!"

 _Uh huh_ , Kakashi says. He's grown quiet. He still seems to be enjoying his drink, but in the way a man enjoys the freefall before he hits the ground. "But?"

Gai reigns his alcohol-addled brain in. He breathes in deep, near-whoozy from the stench of wine. He focuses on Kakashi's expression instead; his wine pink lips and waiting frown. Waiting to be kissed or disappointed.

What was it that Gai had said this morning? _We will have each other. We will grow old._

"Gai?"

He throws an arm over Kakashi's shoulder and squeezes him into a hug.

"There is no 'but'," he decides. "There are going to be many important things in your life that will take up much of your time. You will have many responsibilities! And I hope you will allow me to support you!"

This morning, Kakashi's glare had been unexpected and dazed. Now it's dazed for a different reason, and wide with incredulity.

"You think I wouldn't? I don't know where you got the idea from," Kakashi says, swishing his drink around. He pauses. "From me?"

Gai's swift _no!_ is apparently ignored.

"I don’t want things to change," Kakashi continues defensively. “But they might. And I don't think I can stop that now. I know you said we were going to be carefree old men - don't look at me like that, you said it - but that doesn’t really apply to Kages, you know." He muffles himself in the wine. "Realistically."

Gai hugs him harder. "You're still thinking of Lord Fourth."

Kakashi's mouth winces. It's an expression he's used to hiding behind his mask. "It's hard… not to. I never really thought of him as young but."

"He was."

"Yeah."

The wine must have loosened Kakashi's tongue. It's certainly loosened Gai's tears.

"You will not die young. You know I would lay my life down for you in a heartbeat."

Kakashi winces harder. Chugs more of his drink. "That's not exactly what I had in mind."

"I know."

"I really can't do this without you."

"You can," Gai says. He sniffs loudly. His tears might be evaporating on his cheeks. “You’ve done many things without me.”

“I really haven’t,” Kakashi insists, turning his face into Gai’s shoulder. “You’ve always been there. I hope you’ll still be there even when I’m stuck up in that office dying of boredom. Otherwise I might end up making paper planes out of mission reports - and Admin really might kill me. You’ll have to be there to stop them.”

Gai laughs. The future sounds bright, put like that. “I promise! Even if we don’t have time for our challenges anymore.”

It’s Kakashi’s turn to startle. “What? I thought our challenges were eternal.”

It’s sweet to hear him say that so freely. Gai’s stomach flips pleasantly, but he is careful to say, “Our rivalry is eternal!”

“Semantics,” Kakashi huffs. “Unless you’re giving up on me?”

“Never!”

“Then what’s this about our challenges ending? I challenge you right now. Eating contest. Winner gets a point _and_ tops tonight.”

Gai sputters.

“Unless you were thinking about something else, earlier -”

“No! No, that is. Agreeable, of course! I am up for any challenge! It's only - the food isn't -"

Smoke bursts across the kotatsu, shrouding Gai's apartment in grey. Bull's cumbersome head tips out of it, and from his jaws, he drops a plastic bag into Kakashi's lap. It's slobbery and oozing sauce. Pakkun raises a paw in greeting as the smoke disappears. His nose wrinkles. Both dogs side-eye the wine.

"No change?" Kakashi asks, gesturing for the coin.

"We're keeping it for compensation," Pakkun drawls. Bull says nothing but he never has. He blinks woeful eyes.

"And here I thought we were friends," Kakashi whines. He de-summons the dogs with a quick hand-sign. Pakkun's laughter lingers in the smoke.

Gai starts dishing up their meal. It won't remain on their plates for long, if their challenge has anything to say about it. He grins.

"More wine?" Kakashi asks. The bottle is almost empty.

Gai shakes his head. "I cannot hope to win if I'm inebriated, Rival."

" _Oh-o_ , so you're hoping to win? That's fine by me," Kakashi says with a smirk, as Gai blushes to the tips of his ears. Kakashi's eyes flutter prettily, drunkenly. He'll be sober once he's eaten their enormity of food.

If Kakashi's _not_ sober after all this, then Gai's already bundled a semi-conscious jōnin into pyjamas once today. He grins. He can most definitely do it again.

"But don't think I'll go easy on you," Kakashi warns. "I _am_ the future Hokage you know."

Gai laughs. He snaps apart a pair of chopsticks and slides them into Kakashi's hand. Then he swipes away the wine.

For fairness' sake.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading, all comments appreciated :)


End file.
